Acting Presidential In Plain Sight

English: Seal of the President of the United States Español: Escudo del Presidente de los Estados Unidos Македонски: Печат на Претседателот на Соединетите Американски Држави. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It's pure happenstance that President Donald Trump's address to Congress Tuesday wasn't billed as the State of the Union.  Because Trump took office only a few weeks ago, he wasn't Constitutionally required to make his speech in the House chambers in the first year of his term, but did so anyway.  If this actually were a State of the Union address, he might have called it a chance to unify the country.  Which is a stretch because he's part of the reason this is a divided nation in the first place.

This time, Trump was neither the Mad Tweeter nor the Cassandra in a business suit who spoke of gloom and doom during his Inaugural address.  Instead, he sounded like a mature adult who calmly explained himself and his policies in front of members of Congress and a national TV audience.  And he didn't pick fights with the media or restrict himself to 140 characters to achieve this.

Given all that, the President did manage to sneak in some superlatives, favorite phrases such as "radical Islamic terrorism" and "make America great again", and some exaggerations that didn't hold up under fact-checking scrutiny from the media he considers his enemy.

The President began his speech by denouncing the attacks on Jewish community centers across the country as anti-Semitism, which is something he never quite brought up on World Holocaust Day.  He also acknowledged the existence of Black History Month.  As for the contributions of immigrants (legal or not) to this country, all he'll say is that the wall on the Mexican border should be going up soon.

Trump went on to explain how he would redo the Affordable Care Act.  It ended up sounding much like what's already in it, with a couple of tweaks for bringing down prescription costs and being able to shop for out of state medical insurance.  "Repeal and replace"?  Really?

There was nothing in the speech about Russia or U.S. foreign policy.  But the President did boast about getting NATO members to pay their fair share to defend themselves against Vladimir Putin's expansionist fantasies.  Trump also asked for a boost in military spending while fawning over a woman whose Navy SEAL husband died in action.  This comes from a man who did not serve in the military, yet employs retired generals to serve in his Cabinet.

The President tried to extend an olive branch to both political parties to come together for the good of the nation, which is in stark contrast to his trashing them during the campaign and in his Inaugural Address.  While the Republicans repeatedly stood up and applauded like trained seals whenever Trump scored a point, Democrats were having none of it.  Some of the party's women wore white, in honor of the suffragettes who fought for the right to vote a century ago, and to protest Trump's lack of empathy for just about everything.  Other Democrats brought an immigrant with them as guests, and mostly sat on their hands.

President Trump did his best to act the part on Tuesday night, and got some good reviews for his performance even from Democrats.  But what about tomorrow?  We can't expect him to be Mr. Nice Guy all the time, but he can't always be Mr. Nasty either.  Whether Trump's policies get through Congress or not, whether he'd rather talk to Fox News instead of the "failing" New York Times, or whether he really wants a better relationship with Russia or not, Americans shouldn't have to wonder if the President they elected is taking his position seriously.